


Father's Day

by iamnotninja



Category: Cobra Kai (Web Series), Karate Kid (Movies)
Genre: Established Relationship, Father-Son Relationship, Grief/Mourning, M/M, Post-Season 2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:29:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27304159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iamnotninja/pseuds/iamnotninja
Summary: It's Father's Day. These two karate dads have a lot of feelings. I cried a little while writing this.
Relationships: Daniel LaRusso/Johnny Lawrence, Robby Keene & Johnny Lawrence
Comments: 8
Kudos: 93





	Father's Day

**Author's Note:**

> A different writer definitely came up with Bambi as Johnny's nickname for Daniel, but I'm not sure who. Regardless, I cannot take credit for it.

"Happy Father's Day."

Johnny blinked, staring up from his eggs. Robby's arms were crossed, and he was looking at the diner's greasy floor.

"Wha- It's Father's- I didn't know, kid, I wasn't trying to-" _Fuck fuck fuck. So stupid._

"Yeah," Robby's lips twitched. "I figured you didn't know. No offense, but emotional manipulation is a little more complex than what I'm used to from you."

Johnny was gripping his fork so tight he could feel the shitty metal start to bend. Robby had actually responded to his text, actually _agreed_ to come meet him, and he'd fucked up and picked the worst fucking day he could have.

"Dad, seriously, it's ok. Sorry for bringing it up."

"No, it's-" Johnny put down the bent fork. Licked his lips. Picked the fork back up. "Thanks, I guess. Happy, uh, I guess I don't say it to you, huh?"

Robby laughed.

-

As they left the diner, Johnny scanned the parking lot.

"You got wheels?"

Robby had his phone out, tapping away. He looked up and shook his head.

"Nah, I'll get an Uber. I'm meeting Miguel at the gym."

Johnny froze, feeling like his stomach had dropped out of him.

"You've seen him? You see Miguel?"

Since that day at the hospital, Johnny had been tormented by not knowing. He didn't reach out, didn't ask. Daniel would have told him if things had gotten... worse, so he had assumed- _hoped_ \- that Miguel was ok. And Robby saw him? Worked out with him?

"Yeah, we meet to do his rehab exercises. He needs a partner for that stuff, and he doesn't like asking his mom."

"Why you?" _Idiot._ "I mean, couldn't Hawk or Aisha-"

Robby slipped the phone into his jacket and leaned on the hood of the Challenger.

"After Mr. LaRusso helped me out, he told me I had to make things right. He said it was important, that I had to help Miguel forgive me. It sounded nuts. I mean-" He glanced at Johnny, rolled his eyes. "You know, what I mean. Isn't it up to him? I told him I didn't need Miguel to forgive me, that he shouldn't."

Johnny winced. That's what he'd said to Daniel when Daniel had pushed him to text Robby. _Shitty dads don't need to be forgiven, Bambi. I fucked up. He's better off if I leave him alone._

"And he told me it wasn't for me, it was for Miguel. He told me something his sensei told him, 'For a man with no forgiveness in his heart, living is a worse punishment than death.'"

Johnny grit his teeth and sighed. _That son of a bitch. I'm gonna kill him when I get home._

"So Miguel forgave you?" _Can you forgive me?_

Robby looked at the ground, chewing his lip. He looked sideways at his father.

"Not yet, but I think he will."

Tears pricked hot and sharp in Johnny's eyes. He pressed his palms over them, willing them away.

"That's good to hear."

-

As he parked, he saw Sam and Anthony step out of the house, followed by Daniel. Johnny slunk down in the car. He was pissed. So stupid, how did he not put it together? Daniel had said the kids were coming over to make brunch and wouldn't that be a good opportunity for him to meet with Robby? Fucking asshole. He watched Daniel hug Sam and get shrugged off by Anthony. That little shit was still giving his dad grief for the divorce. As Sam pulled out of the driveway she waved happily at Johnny. He nodded at her. He still felt awkward around the kids. Sam always tried too hard to pretend she was fine with it, with them; Anthony ignored him.

Johnny tried to open the front door, but it stuck, the humidity swelling it in its frame. _Fuck this._ He stepped back and kicked the door, forcing it open so violently the knob punched through the drywall.

"So... how'd it go?" Daniel was leaning in the kitchen doorway.

"Really, Bambi?" Johnny growled. "The fuck is wrong with you? Father's Day? Felt like a goddamn asshole."

Daniel shrugged, all innocence and charm, "Hey, it's not my fault you forgot."

"Not like it was something I ever needed to remember," Johnny shoved past Daniel towards the fridge. He looked at the clock. 2pm. Saturday. Good enough. He pulled out a Coors and stalked to the kitchen table. As he sat down he noticed the card on the table.

"Is that a grizzly bear eating pizza?"

"In space, yeah," Daniel pulled out a chair and sat down next to him. He pulled the Coors out of Johnny's had and took a sip, wrinkling his nose.

"Hey," Johnny jerked it back. "Get one of your fancy EPAs, don't steal mine."

"Tastes like cat piss anyway," Daniel retrieved a beer of his own.

"You would know," Johnny muttered. He picked up the card and flipped it open. _'If a grizzly bear eating pizza in space doesn't make your Father's Day awesome, then I am out of ideas.'_ Sam had signed her name big, with a heart next to it. Anthony's name was scribbled down at the bottom.

"I'm pretty sure Sam wrote that for him," Daniel said, popping the cap and taking a sip. He hooked his feet around Johnny's ankles. "Amanda used to do it. Doubt she's doing it now."

They sat quietly, sipping their beers and enjoying the feeling of each other's legs. Eventually, Johnny broke the silence.

"You're a real asshole, you know that?" Daniel rolled his eyes. "No, man, you are. What was that bullshit you fed him about forgiveness?"

"It's not bullshit, it's true, Mr. Miyagi-"

"Mr. Miyagi doesn't know shit about my life, or about Robby or Miguel or any of this." Johnny untangled their legs, anger filling him again. "I told you, Robby doesn't have to do shit. I'm a shitty fucking dad, and he's better off not expecting anything from me."

Daniel looked down the neck of his beer studiously. "So he doesn't forgive you?"

"Maybe, I don't know-fuck, that's not the point."

"It _is_ Johnny," Daniel looked up at him with his big, dumb, soft eyes. "It hurts to carry that kind of resentment around. You know that. Do you want Robby to go through that? Fuck up his life because he doesn't know how to forgive you?"

Johnny's throat tightened. He thought of all the shitty things he'd done- all the jobs he'd lost, all the relationships he'd torpedoed, and how deep down at the core had been that voice blaming Daniel for beating him, blaming his mom for marrying Sid, blaming Shannon for wanting a kid. He swallowed thickly.

"I don't want- kids shouldn't need to forgive their dads," he said hoarsely. "They shouldn't have to, it's not how it's supposed to work."

"I know, buddy." Daniel got up and stood behind him, leaning over and wrapping his arms around him, kissing him on the neck. "I was mad at my dad for a long time, after he died."

"You were?"

"Yeah," Daniel said, pressing his forehead against Johnny's shoulder, voice muffled. "When he was sick, sometimes he'd ask if I wanted to do something- watch a movie he liked or learn how to play chess. And he was sick, so, you know, I knew I should. But sometimes I'd say no, I wanted to go play or something. I did that to see what he'd do. I thought- I thought, if he really is dying, then he'll tell me it's important to spend time with him, and if he lets me go do something else, then it means-"

Daniel's voice caught, and his arms tightened around Johnny. Johnny turned his head and kissed the side of Daniel's head, reaching his own arms down and around the back of the chair, gripping the back of Daniel's thighs, grounding him. He felt Daniel take a deep inhale, heard the long, soft exhale.

"If he let me go do something else it meant he was gonna get better, you know? Cause if he was really gonna die, he would want me around all the time, right? And then he died, and I was so _angry_ at him for letting me go do stuff without him. And it was like, if you really knew you were gonna die, why didn't you want to spend more time with me?"

His arms were shaking. Johnny unwrapped himself and pulled Daniel into his lap, wrapping his arms around him. Daniel's nose was red. The dude was even cute when he cried. Daniel pressed his forehead to Johnny's, took another deep breath.

"It took a long time for me to realize that he might have been scared too, like maybe he thought it wasn't fair to make a little kid spend all his time with a sick guy."

Johnny thought about how self-conscious he was around Robby, how every single one of his failings seemed so fucking obvious. He tightened his arms around Daniel.

"It felt a lot better, when I stopped being mad at him. It was like I could see him as a person, you know? Like a guy with his own fears and problems who was just trying to figure out what to do with the shitty hand he'd been dealt."

"Shit," Johnny breathed. Daniel sniffed and pulled back. He cupped Johnny's jaw and ran his thumb over his cheek.

"I know it's not the same for you and Robby, but his dad's still alive, you're still here, and I don't want him to feel like you don't wanna try to fix stuff. Even if you can't fix it all the way."

"That sensei of yours was pretty smart."

"Yeah," Daniel smiled, pushing himself off Johnny and wiping his face with his forearm.

"So why'd he ever agree to teach an asshole like you?"

Daniel laughed, went to the fridge, and grabbed them each another beer. Johnny's phone blasted a guitar riff, a text from Robby. He tapped it, and up popped a picture of Robby and Miguel, giving a thumbs up.

_M says hi. Good 2 see u today._


End file.
